beynolds



(No Model.)

0, W. REYNOLDS. PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING SHOES.

No. 299,421. Patented May 2'7. 1884.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES W. REYNOLDS, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO WILLIAM H. BURTENSHAW, OF SAME PLACE.

PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING SHOES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 299,421, dated May 27, 1884.

I Application filedDeoember 29, 1883. (No model.)

My invention consists in a novel method of making a sewed shoe, whereby I am enabled to use an insole too light to be used in shoes made in the ordinary manner, or to dispense with an insole entirely, thus making a very light and flexible shoe, as hereinafter pointed out, and specified in the claim.

A represents auinsole made very light, not heavy enough to use in the ordinary method of construction, except where it is thickened at the heel by pieces pasted or tacked on.

B represents a piece of thin sole-leather, shaped as shown in the drawings, and wide enough to cover the space between the edges of the uppers whenv the shoe is lasted, which acts as a falseinsole. I usually bevelthe edge of false insole B; but this may be omitted. V

C represents the upper, and E the sole, of the shoe.

D represents a strip of leather, rawhide, or other suitable material, and dc represent tacks used in process of manufacture.

My improved mode of manufacture-is as followsz' When the light insole A isto be used, the false insole B is lightly tacked onto the insole by tacks (1, so that the insole A projects on all sides beyond the false insole B. The shoe is now drawn over a last having a metal sole, and the insole A is laid on the sole of the last with the false insole B against the last. upper is now drawnover the insole and secured thereto by tacks e, which are driven through the strip D, the upper and lining, the insole A, thefalse insole B, and are turned over. .or clinched by the last. The ends of strip D are placed over the rear ends of the false insole D, (marked g,) and the strip thence follows the edges of the upper to the toe of the shoe, 0, where the strip is doubled back and extends in a loop, I), to the heel of the shoe, being usually secured by a tack, f, as shown. The last is now withdrawn, the sole E placed The as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, and the false insole pulled outof the shoe, straightening the clinched ends of tacks e. The end I) of strip D is now seized by a pair of-pinchers and the strip pulled. out, bringing with it the tack f and all the tacks e, when the heel may be nailed on and the shoe finished in the I usual manner. This makes a shoe with a very flexible sole and of cheap construction. When the insole is to be entirely omitted, the false insole B is placed on the last, the uppers tacked onto it, as before, and the false insole and tacks removed in the manner hereinbefore described. While the shoe is being sewed, I bend a piece of spring-wire into approximately the form of the last, but larger, compress it, and slip it into the shoe, so that its expansion will distend the upper, which prevents the horn of the sewing-machine from catching in the lining, and also preventsthe needle of the sewing-machine from engaging with that part of the lining which should be above the seam.

A short heel-insole is put inside the shoe to hold the nails which fasten the heel, the heel nailed on, and I then put the ordinary socklining in the shoe.

What I claim as myinvention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The herein-described process in manufacturing a flexible shoe, consisting in placing upon the last a false insole, drawing the upper over the last, and tacking its edge to said false insole by a row of tacks, which first pass through a strip of rawhide or similar suitable material laid along the edge of said up per to the toe of the shoe, and thence doubled back and led to a point near the heel, then uniting the sole and upper in any usual manner, and then pulling out said false insole and said rawhide strip, substantially as shown and described.

CHARLES WV. REYNOLDS.

Witnesses CHARLES B. LorHRoP, Geo. II. LOTHROP. 

